While it is unknown
where Rahman was killed, the reports suggest he is the second
known Briton to have died while fighting in Syria.

Rahman is one of hundreds of Britons thought to have joined the
IS, a group that has become notorious for acts of extreme
violence and depravity, including instances of public flogging
and beheadings. It is thought that nine other Britons from
Portsmouth joined him in the region.

According to the daily, Rahman flew to Turkey in October, before
crossing the border to Syria. He informed his parents just days
later that he had joined an aid convoy in the region.

From my interactions with him, Hamidur Rahman, deceased British
fighter in Syria, was very focused, committed and serious about
his cause.

In June, Prime Minister
David Cameron said that British citizens fighting in Iraq and
Syria were the biggest threat to Britain’s national
security.

"No-one should be in any doubt that what we see in Syria and
now in Iraq in terms of ISIS is the most serious threat to
Britain's security that there is today" he said.

"The number of foreign fighters in that area, the number of
foreign fighters including those from the UK who could try to
return to the UK is a real threat to our country."

Last week, the Islamic State trapped thousands of people from the Yazidi
minority group on Mt. Sinjar in northwestern Iraq, leaving them
without food or water. According to Iraqi intelligence, the
Jihadists are said to have killed at least 500 people, with some of the victims
allegedly having been ‘buried alive.’

The action forced the US to carry out strategic airstrikes in the
Sinjar area, which has allowed around 30,000 Iraqis to flee to
Iraqi Kurdistan, according to Kurdish official, Shawkwat
Barbahari.

“Most of them crossed yesterday and today, this operation is
ongoing and we really don't know how many are still up there on
the mountain," he told AFP.

US fighter jets and drones also struck vehicles and artillery
captured by the IS, along with targeted strikes in Islamic State
positions that threaten Erbil, where dozens of US special
operations personnel are based.

The UK also assisted the US in delivering aid to displaced Iraqis
in Sinjar, with Foreign Secretary Phillip Hammond announcing an
air drop of drinking water and tents on Saturday. However, after
chairing an emergency meeting with the government’s ‘COBRA’
committee, he said this was only a short term solution.

Describing the crisis in northwestern Iraq as ‘unacceptable’,
Hammond said: "We can expect a continuing drumbeat of airdrop
operations working in coordination with the US and potentially
with others as well.”

Hammond is to chair another meeting with the committee on Monday,
to discuss the situation in Iraq and further options for
humanitarian assistance.

Since declaring the ‘Islamic State’ last month, the ultra-radical
and fundamental group has made sweeping territorial gains in Iraq’s biggest cities.
They reportedly gained control of the Mosul dam on Saturday, one
of the country’s main water supplies that was controlled by Iraqi
Kurdistan. Many officials fear the Islamic State could
intentionally destroy the dam to create floods, causing a
humanitarian crisis beyond anything Iraq has ever experienced
before.